The Government has to stop digging its head in the sand and ignoring the calls of tangata whenua and local communities, says Te Pāti Māori.
Co-leader and Environment spokesperson Debbie Ngarewa-Packer made the comment after receiving a petition from environmental activists at Parliament last week calling on New Zealand to support a global moratorium to ban seabed mining in Aotearoa.
The signatures – from 36,383 Kiwis – were gathered by Greenpeace, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM), Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), Environment & Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa New Zealand (ECO), LegaSea, Forest and Bird, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Te Pāti Māori.
Iwi, including Ngāti Ruanui kaumātua, along with members from Oceanic Voices and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), also attended the event in Pōneke, Wellington, on June 8 – World Oceans Day.
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Ngarewa-Packer, who has been leading the eight-year campaign in the courts and on the streets, is “proud of the ongoing campaign to ban seabed mining, and the tens of thousands of people who had signed the petition”.
“Labour has to stop digging their head in the sand and ignoring the calls of tangata whenua and local communities,” she said.
“It’s time for Ardern and David Parker to get off the fence and make a stand for the Treaty, the climate and the health of our oceans.”
Ngarewa-Packer, who is also a member of the Pacific Parliamentarians’ Alliance on Deep Sea Mining (PPADSM),
said there is a growing movement against the environmental destruction caused by seabed mining.
”I’ve drafted a Member’s Bill that would end this destructive practice once and for all,” she said.
“All Labour need to do is support my Bill and side with Aotearoa over international mining companies.” .
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta told Parliament the Government’s focus is to engage with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to stop deep sea mining unless the protection of the oceans can be assured by setting high environmental standards.
“At the most recent ISA negotiations in March this year, NZ worked with Chile and Costa Rica to advance a significant proposal to improve environmental decision-making and environmental standards in the ISA regulations," Mahuta said.
New Zealand will send a delegation to the next meeting of the Seabed Authority Council in Jamaica from July 18-29.
Mahuta said officials have considered a number of options which include advocating high standards of environmental protection with the ISA process, and refusing to take a stance on a moratorium.
Other options include switching its approach to support a global moratorium on all deep sea mining and for NZ to vote against any mining code that does not ensure the effective protection of the marine environment.
But Environment Committee chair and Green MP Eugenie Sage said NZ would not be able to get a robust code because the ministry only has 18 months to finalise it. “There is no certainty that New Zealand could undertake seabed mining without having devastating impacts on the oceans.”
The Pacific Parliamentarians Against Deep Sea Mining (PPADSM) have also weighed in, urging Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to support the ban on seabed mining.
PPADSM members include representatives from Vanuatu, PNG, Tuvalu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Bougainville, French Polynesia, Palau, Guam and Green MP Teanau Tuiono.
“The ocean is home to over 90% of life on Earth. It is one of our biggest allies in the fight against climate change, every second breath we take comes from the ocean, and damage to it will impact the livelihoods of billions of people,” PPADSM member and Vanuatu Opposition Leader Ralph Regenvanu said.
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